Gary L. Teeter

for Ohio Senate
      33rd District
 

 continue the efforts against illegal drugs and violent crimes

 

 

Gary's Views

 If crime rates are not decreasing even as our population is increasing, then society as a whole continues to fail. Crime affects everyone in a negative way even the perpetrator. Until we can effectively begin to deal with crimes of all nature, all other progress will be yielded. All societies must stop and reflect at where they have come from and to where it is they is are going, and then set a course for new direction for the benefit of the all. We must begin to enforce and strengthen current laws that will detour the killers of our law enforcement officers and  citizens for their safety and ours. Young people are the future's most valuable resource. We must echo this fact as we increase their protection from illegal drugs.
As your Ohio Senator I will continue to enhance and support legislation that aides and reverses escalating crime rates.
   

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 Drug-Related Crime  
          March 2000
            visit: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/ncj181056.pdf
 

Drugs are related to crime in multiple ways. Most directly, it is a crime to use, possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and amphetamines). Drugs are also related to crime through the effects they have on the user's behavior and by generating violence and other illegal activity in connection with drug trafficking. The chart below summarizes the various ways that drugs and crime are related.
 

Drug-related offenses and drug-using lifestyles are major contributors to the U.S. crime problem and are the focus of this fact sheet.

Summary of relationship between drugs and crime         

Drugs/crime relationship

Definition

Examples
 

Drug-defined offenses

Violation of laws prohibiting or regulating the possession, use, distribution, or manufacture of illegal drugs.

Drug possession or use.
Marijuana cultivation.
Methamphetamine production.
Cocaine, heroin, or marijuana sales.
 

Drug-related offenses

Offenses to which a drug’s pharmacologic effects contribute; offenses motivated by the user’s need for money to support continued use; and offenses connected to drug distribution itself.
 

Violent behavior resulting from drug effects. Stealing to get money to buy drugs. Violence against rival drug dealers.

Drug-using lifestyle

A lifestyle in which the likelihood and frequency of involvement in illegal activity are increased because drug users may not participate in the legitimate economy and are exposed to situations that encourage crime.

A life orientation with an emphasis on short term goals supported by illegal activities. Opportunities to offend resulting from contacts with offenders and illegal markets. Criminal skills learned from other offenders.

 

Drug Use and Its Relation to the
Commission of Crimes

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducts an annual National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) that asks individuals living in households about their drug and alcohol use and their involvement in crimes (see table 1). Provisional data for 1997 show that respondents arrested in the past year for possession or sale of drugs and driving under the influence had the highest percentage of illicit drug use in the past year. Past year illicit drug users were also about 16 times more likely than nonusers to report being arrested and booked for larceny or theft; more than 14 times more likely to be arrested and booked for such offenses as driving under the influence, drunkenness, or liquor law violations; and more than 9 times more likely to be arrested and booked on an assault charge.